Nanostructures unique properties

The quest for nanostructures and devices based on the biomimetic premise of architectural and functional precision is intense and remains an ultimate challenge. One must ask - what new options or unique properties does the dendritic state offer to meet the needs of nanoscale science and technology The rest of this chapter will attempt to overview key features of the dendritic state that address these and other issues. 

The utilization of large surface areas and, to a certain extent, controllable surface properties make carbon materials an ideal support for finely dispersed catalyst nanoparticles, as discussed in Section 15.2. The special features of nanocarbons for this purpose will be highlighted in the following section. Starting with the controlled synthesis of a variety of nanocarbon-inorganic hybrids, some examples will be discussed, where the superior catalytic performance arises from the unique properties of the nanostructured support. 

Nanostructured Electrodes with Unique Properties for Biological and Other Applications... 

Many of the unique properties that can be achieved with nanostructuring at the nanoscale are due to the ability of the unique properties of the nanomaterials employed, the ability to control the architecture of the electrode interface at the... 

One of the most important objectives of nanoscience and nanotechnology is to take advantage of the unique properties of nanomaterials. Nanomaterials can be synthesized from the assembly of individual Au NPs to give more or less ordered nanostructures possessing one-, two- or three-dimensional architectures. As described in the final section of this chapter, these Au nanomaterials can be applied in different fields such as optics, electronics, sensing, catalysis, biology-related applications, and so on. 

These examples of functionalization of carbon nanotubes demonstrate that the chemistry of this new class of molecules represents a promising field within nanochemistry. Functionalization provides for the potential for the manipulation of their unique properties, which can be tuned and coupled with those of other classes of materials. The surface chemistry of SWCNTs allows for dispersibility, purification, solubilization, biocompatibility and separation of these nanostructures. Additionally, derivatization allows for site-selective nanochemistry applications such as self-assembly, shows potential as catalytic supports, biological transport vesicles, demonstrates novel charge-transfer properties and allows the construction of functional nanoarchitectures, nanocomposites and nanocircuits. 

In the past decade, controlled synthesis of ceria based nanomaterials, such as obtaining the pure phase, doping for desirable composition, controlling uniform size, shape, and nanostructure, tuning surfaces, fabricating composites, assemblies and mesostructures, have been the targets of active research since ceria-based materials exhibits unique properties when their sizes are reduced to nanometer scale. 

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